It’s been a minute.
The last time the Georgia State University Panthers football team stepped onto a gridiron was Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023, in Boise, Idaho. That day, in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, the Panthers boiled and mashed the Utah State Aggies, 45-22.
Now, on Saturday, Aug.31, the Panthers kick off their 2024 season against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in Bobby Dodd Stadium, a short stroll from the Atlanta Campus.
For Panthers fans, it’s been a long eight months.
For Antonio Deleon “Dell” McGee, it’s been a lifetime.
Dell McGee is a Georgia native with 22 years of coaching experience, including back-to-back national titles as the run game coordinator and running backs coach for the Georgia Bulldogs.
On the last day in August, the new Panthers coach will step onto a football field as a full-time head coach of his own college team for the very first time.
Just eight days shy of his 51st birthday, Coach McGee’s moment will arrive. At last.
At a press conference last February introducing him as the fourth head coach in GSU’s 14-year history, McGee spoke of his lifelong “dream of being a college head coach.”
“I’ve spent 20-plus years coaching in Georgia,” McGee says. “As a native of this state, this opportunity to develop student-athletes here has always been the blessing I knew I was preparing for.”
Preparing for half a half-century.
McGee played football through his youth. He grew skilled enough by high school to win a scholarship to a major college program. He played in the National Football League. He then turned to coaching, first high school, then college and most recently as running backs coach for college football’s premier program, the Georgia Bulldogs. At UGA, McGee helped Coach Kirby Smart capture two national championships.
For a lifetime, McGee has lifted, sprinted, studied Xs and Os. He’s watched film, visited recruits, yelled from the sidelines, burned the midnight oil. He’s pushed young student-athletes to be their best. He’s pushed himself.
“Georgia State is primed for success as a premier institution in the best city in America,” McGee says. “I can’t wait to lead this football program as we compete for championships.”
